vakkotaur

When I was getting ready for Midwest FurFest one of the things I did was get out the Apple laptop and run the updates, or at least the ones that worked. The one that never really worked once again failed repeatedly. While doing this I realized it had been a long time since I had had the laptop out. I think the last time I had was for RCFM. I hadn't even powered it up at home just to snag a couple files I'd saved while browsing during the RCFM trip. That was odd. Why hadn't I even done that?

I realized it was not just a matter of putting things off, but that I really do not like that laptop or at least the limitations it imposes on me. The old Compaq Armada is older, bigger, clunkier, has less CPU, but I can make it truly mine. I can set it to do things my way. I can make it conform to me. I do not have to conform to it. If the wireless card for the Compaq could do WPA I'd still be using it. Yet I can use Jay's Mclaptop on trips, or another Mac on some visits and it doesn't bug me all that much. Huh? Oh yeah, those are not my machines and I'm only using them for a short time. I know that the stuff I don't care for is temporary. I can put up with a bit that is temporary, even if it is painfully unsightly. But putting up with the stupid eyesore limitations all the time? No. That drives me nuts. So I minimize my exposure to an artificially limited user interface design. I think that also affects other perceptions of the machine. The Compaq is certainly slower, but the Mclaptop feels slow to me. It's like it's too busy being "kewl" to be properly snappy and useful.

I asked Jay if it was possible to get a good dark-background color scheme on the iPhone. He said it was.. but only for the main or first screen. Bleah. A few days ago I saw a commercial (only saw, I mute commercials with much relief if not glee) for a gadget that was presented much like the iPhone, but it had dark backgrounds and light text in the menus. Had Apple finally allowed real choice? No, it was a Blackberry. Fortunately I have no need or even craving for a so-called smart phone. I hope that by the time I do or that I get stuck with one that the Android based things are well established. I expect those would allow me to set things the way I want them.

I still need to fire up that Mclaptop and get a few files off of it. But you know? It can still wait.

Current Mood: blah

One thing Apple got right about Mac OS X is the Software Update. It alerts the user to updates when they are available and lets them be installed on the user's schedule without too much fuss. Except for QuickTime.

I have updated QuickTime at least three times now (in a surprisingly short time, I wonder how many holes are in the thing). Software Update alerts me and offers to take care of it. I have yet to see it do that with QuickTime. I don't know what's special (in the short bus sense) about QuickTime and Software Update but they earn on F on "getting along." The alert shows up, the offer is made, my password is asked for (and supplied) and almost immediately up pops a message that there was an error and the bad package trashed. I acknowledge the message... and software update suggests I do what just failed. If I do, the loop goes on and on.

I can update QuickTime, to Software Update's satisfaction, by downloading it with a browser and dealing with it manually. So I've done that. But it's really annoying to see a tool consistently fail on a situation that is common. perhaps Software Update needs an update? Right now I'd like at least one of two things regarding this: (1) Software Update to work as intended even with QuickTime. (2) QuickTime to be good enough to be version-stable for several months.

Both would be ideal. Just item 1 would be less hassle. I could settle for just item 2, if I only had to deal with once or maybe twice a year. I'm not sure if this is the third or fourth time this year QuickTime has needed updating. Is it in permanent beta?